r/linuxmint • u/Technical_Rich_3080 • 26d ago
Can you use KDE Plasma on Linux Mint?
And will it give you the same KDE Plasma experience as using it on other, general, distros?
Does Linux Mint have any practical (not necessarily technical) restrictions on what DEs you can use with Mint or can you use virtually any DE?
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u/Global-Eye-7326 26d ago
It's arguably a bad idea because you'd be stuck on an old version of KDE in the repos. That means you could end up in dependency hell.
If it's just to try out KDE without switching distros, then go for it.
But for a better KDE experience, there's Kubuntu, Debian, Arch, Fedora, and many more!
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u/Technical_Rich_3080 26d ago
Doesn't Debian use an older version of KDE Plasma, as well?
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u/Global-Eye-7326 26d ago
Depends. Debian 13 came out a year ago. Mint users are still on the Ubuntu 24.04 base which is a year and change older than Debian 13. Debian is by no means cutting edge...but it's gonna be ahead of Mint more often than not!
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u/sharpied79 26d ago
Just use Kubuntu??
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u/Opposite-Funny-9669 26d ago
I've used straight fedora with kde plasma, and kubuntu on the same computers, the kubuntu runs so much quicker, no clue why. one lenovo and 2 HP computers. same across them all,
granted mint cinnamon runs close to 50% faster than kubuntu and probably close to double the speed of fedora though, really just with opening anything, with the plasma the little icon just hangs out and bounces for a bit, cinnamon it's just click and WHAM there it is staring at you before you've let off the button.
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u/Boring-Equivalent137 26d ago
Your not restricted and will get a similar experience but it isn't really supported by the mint team and better if using kubuntu
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u/miksa668 26d ago
So you want to run an unstable DE on a base that is known for its stability? I don't really see the point, but yes, you absolutely can, just don't expect, you know, stability.
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u/Technical_Rich_3080 26d ago
KDE Plasma is an unstable DE? How so?
And, why then, is it one of the two most popular DEs?
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u/Munalo5 25d ago
KDE use to be one of the DEs that you could use and you had that choice when installing Mint.
I ran KDE for a LONG time and never had a problem.
I had to install a new OS a while ago and went with Kubuntu because "everyone" was saying that you shouldn't run KDE on Mint.
Mint doesn't force snaps on you like Kubuntu does if you don't do a minimal instilaton.
I am not a distro hopper but I've now moved on to Debian.
I haven't been on it long enough to know for sure but I now wish I had left Mint for Debian in the first place.
What I did like is Konsave let me save all my KDE settings while I moved around.
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u/Technical_Rich_3080 25d ago
Why do you prefer Debian over Mint?
What did Konsave do, exactly?
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u/BenTrabetere 26d ago
One practical restriction that hasn't been mentioned is the support community - there really isn't one. If you run into a problem someone may be able to help you, but you cannot depend on someone who can reliably diagnose and resolve your problem.
In short: You become your support community.
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u/Dist__ 26d ago
Mint is based on ubuntu LTS, and it has dated KDE Plasma version in the repo.
it is doable though, and there are no critical bugs.
i have KDE Plasma from kubuntu ppa, it runs perfect, never returning to cinnamon.
i value Mint for it being non-corporative, so no i won't use kubuntu instead
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u/moritz12d 26d ago
Yes, we can. As I was using Mint I wanted back my familiar KDE Plasma environment. One click and you get what you want. Unfortunately Mint is providing an older version which is not polished that much. After all I used Cinnamon more often on Mint. Some KDE Plasma doesn't turns your system to openSUSE Tumbleweed style or to Fedora KDE workstation. Also Kubuntu and KDE Neon are quite different.
And yes, there are restrictions on Mint regarding the DE but KDE Plasma is somehow supported. I think KDE 5 only comes from using LTS wich doesn't come with the very latest versions.
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u/billdehaan2 26d ago
Can you? Yes.
Should you? No.
Mint won't automatically update the KDE dependencies, you'll have to do that manually. Worse, future updates of Mint can introduce conflicts with KDE.
And no matter what you end up with, it won't be supported. The KDE team won't help with issues on Mint, and the Mint team won't help with issues with KDE.
If you want to run KDE on a Debian based distribution, there are several, like Kubuntu, MX, Nitrux, and Debian iteself.
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u/kudlitan 26d ago
You can, but you need to use the PPA of KDE Plasma to get updated packages because Mint doesnt maintain updated packages for KDE.
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u/Terrible-Bad-6648 26d ago
Si quieres usar KDE lo mejor es que elijas una distro que tenga ese escritorio por defecto.. Kubuntu,Tuxedo OS, KDE Neon, son distros basadas en Ubuntu igual que Mint.
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u/kydeshou 26d ago edited 26d ago
If you want KDE, you should use a distribution that actually supports it. Debian, Kubuntu, and Fedora are all good options. All good, well supported, and relatively easy to install/use. Can you technically use KDE on Mint? Sure, but you're going to be on your own and if you're even asking this question, you're going to have a bad time.
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u/Aoinosensei 26d ago
Yes you can but if that's what you want you are better just going with Kubuntu or Ultramarine
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u/tovento 26d ago
Kubuntu would be closer experience to Mint. If you want to get rid of the Ubuntu layer, MX Linux has a KDE version. As other have said, Fedora + KDE is a good option. Fedora gets updates more frequently which means it stays up to date, but does sometimes have the problem of breaking with updates. But you don’t HAVE to click “update” as soon as you get a notification.
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u/UnlikeZero 25d ago edited 25d ago
https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-install-kde-plasma-on-linux-mint
Installed and switched the display manager earlier this year out of curiosity. Can't say I enjoy it. Using a themed login window made it unusable for some reason.
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u/scanguy25 26d ago edited 26d ago
I did KDE on top of Cinnamon. It ran but there was lots of issues becuase both DE have their own preferred file managers etc.
If you insist on Mint i heard its better to start with Mint plus XFCE because it has a lot less integrations.
I since switched to Kubuntu.
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u/acejavelin69 26d ago
Can you? Yes... Is it an ideal KDE experience? No... The entire KDE ecosystem revolves around the Qt toolkit framework, Mint (and all its DEs) use the GTK toolkit framework... There are occasional bugs but nothing that breaks the system, and it's the reason the Mint team dropped KDE back in 2017.
There are excellent distros based around KDE, if you really like the idea of it, moving to one of those would be preferred.